RQG 3 The Simulacrum
Summary Arsonists interrupt the auction of The Simulacrum. The party saves the ambassadors whilst Sasha chases down the arsonists. Synopsis Lord Edison steps onto the stage in the mansion's Music Room, as two guards push on a large cart behind him. Lord Edison makes a rambling speech, welcoming people and explaining that he's here to sell something that will be the next huge step forward in technology: the Simulacrum. It is a ten-foot-tall humanoid, made out of burnished metals with whorls and various cables. Sasha notices white metal on the joints which she recognises. Byron drunkenly says hello to the Simulacrum as Edison turns it on. Edison explains that this is the nearest approximation to a person ever created, and that it can perform any task, including creating more of itself. He initiates the bidding process, which starts at 700 White Gold from the Japanese representative, equivalent to thousands of people's yearly salary. After a long bidding process, the final bidding is between the Japanese delegates and the deputy prime minister. During the bidding, the waiters are making their way to the stage. Zolf notices one of them getting something out of their jacket. The waiter shouts "NOW NOW NOW!" And Zolf throws an icicle, but too late. There is a massive explosion, and the party is knocked down. Byron has been knocked unconscious and Colgate is tending to him, and various diplomats are trapped behind a patch-of-fire-that-is-quite-high-almost-wall-height. The ceiling is collapsing, and three waiters are on the stage, standing over the dead auctioneer. One is holding a short sword and another is holding a flask. Edison is dead, and one of the waiters is messing with his corpse, next to a large hole in the floor. Combat ensues, where the party engages the waiters and Zolf makes a floating disk for the diplomats to use to escape down into a wine cellar. The man riffling through Edison's corpse finds a folder of papers and jumps down the hole. Quotes EDISON: Now, of course many of you will be aware that there are clockwork servants around. Primitive! Primitive. Horrible things. Clanky, clickety, yechh. Don’t like them. They can do the same job again and again, very boring. Who wants that? No one wants that. It’s terrible. It’s useless. But this... this is the next thing. Aren’t you? Say hello. Dice rolls and Mechanics Hamid stands up and steps towards the stage. The waiter with the flask sees Hamid, and throws his flask at Hamid, burning him. Bertie stands up, draws his sword, and steps up to the waiter with the sword. The waiter who was doing something to Edison stands up, holding a thick folder of papers and drops down the hole. The waiter with the sword swings at Bertie, missing. Zolf stands up and walks towards the stage, drawing his sword. Sasha draws her daggers and bounds towards the stage. The diplomats in the corner shout for help. Hamid casts Magic Missile on the flask wielding waiter. The waiter with the flasks throws another at Hamid, dealing a small amount of damage. Bertie swings at the waiter with the sword and misses. The waiter in the hole does something. The waiter nearest to Bertie swings at him, missing. Zolf notices that one of the craters leads to a wine cellar, he shouts for the diplomats to go down there and Zolf makes them a floating disk. Sasha throws a dagger at the waiter with the flasks, missing. The diplomats move towards the floating disks. Plot Notes There are a couple potential theories to do with Lord Edison revealing the Simulacrum and the Simulacrum auction floating around. * Edison introduces the Simulacrum and says “this is going to make the world bigger”, “I suspect we’ll all be getting one very soon”, “you’re not buying one, you’re buying all of them”, and explains that the Simulacrum is able to replicate itself without anything else (Alex does not explain how this occurs - could relate to the current infection spreading across the world. It’s possible that the Simulacrum doesn’t “make more of itself” and more “converts human beings into mindless robots”.) * During the auction, it comes down to the Deputy PM of England and the Japanese diplomats. Alex says that they have a final bidder, but he does not say who the winner was. (It’s also worth noting that the simulacrum has disappeared after the smoke from the explosion settles) Potential theories include: * If the deputy PM was the winner and/or the London government made off with pieces of the simulacrum or notes on it, it’s possible that they began an experiment in Other London to gauge the efficiency of the simulacrum. However, the deputy PM died in the explosion. * If the Japanese retinue were the winners and/or somehow made it out with pieces or notes of the simulacrum, it could provide a connection between the Shoin Institute and the current infection (especially if it hasn’t hit Japan yet). Zolf saves the Japanese retinue (they had been trapped behind a wall of fire) after the explosion, so it’s possible they could have made it out with pieces/notes. Other potential theories: * The simulacrum concept is just an advanced/alternate version of Mr. Ceiling * The simulacrum, which has been broken up and distributed in the sewers, was able to recreate itself * Other theories? After the explosion, Hamid sees someone escape through the hole in the stage holding a manila folder. Category:Prologue Category:Episode